Gone in minutes: Technology hack behind 47 per cent rise in car thefts across Victoria

A new-age technology hack which can be executed in a matter of minutes is largely behind a 47 per cent spike in car thefts across Victoria. Watch the video.

The number of cars stolen each year has hit a 23-year high, with new technology largely behind the surge.

Crooks young and old have shifted their focus to hacking into the security systems of vehicles before making off with stolen wheels in a hack executed in under six minutes.

On-board diagnostics ports and Apple AirTags used by opportunistic thieves are largely behind the 47 per cent explosion in car thefts in Victoria over the past 12 months, meaning the crime is at its highest level since 2002.

Police data reveals that at least one in five stolen cars are nicked using the technology which is proving to be a major concern for both car owners and authorities.

An offender took just six minutes to steal Ms Dutton’s car. Picture: Supplied

There were 31,551 cars stolen last year – more than 10,099 more when compared to the year prior with newer model Holdens, Toyotas and Subarus the most targeted vehicles.

“In the last month, these makes have been stolen at two to three times the rate of the previous five years,” police said in a statement.

“Police urge owners of these vehicles to look at preventive measures to help deter thieves, including an on-board diagnostic port lock which prevents an offender connecting a reprogramming device to your vehicle.”

OBDs can easily be purchased online from several retailers for as little as about $50 which can allow thieves to get to work.

They are used to reprogram a third-party set of car keys to match the vehicle’s security system with the hack often executed in the driveways of innocent Victorians’ homes.

It allows crooks to steal a car within a matter of minutes.

Police also have intelligence to suggest that Apple AirTags are in use by car thieves.

The tiny pieces of tracking technology are discreetly jammed under a vehicle parked in public — often at shopping centres and train stations — allowing criminals to track the movements of the vehicle from their mobile phone.

The exact location is then shown to crooks who swing by to steal the cars in the dead of night.

Hospitality worker Melissa Dutton’s Subaru was stolen with the technology while she was at work just a few weeks ago.

Ms Dutton had her keys with her while an offender broke into her car and took off within just six minutes in the middle of the car park at Hoppers Crossing.

She suspects the offenders placed an AirTag on her car while she was at work in the days prior.

She said her car was then used to commit crimes at Bendigo and it was never recovered.

“The car park was absolutely full when it was stolen. It was completely targeted,” she told the Herald Sun on Friday.

“My biggest fear was that they would know where I live, but they knew anyway.”

AirTags are being placed on vehicles days before they are stolen.

One police source said the AirTags were being used but not to the extent of on-board diagnostic units.

The source said there had been a drop in the number of vehicle-motivated aggravated burglaries and armed robberies by youth offenders in recent months.

“It does happen but it’s not the dominant methodology,” the police source said.

“These kids aren’t going into the houses because they want to. They’re going in to get the keys.”

Another victim of the hack said her own car keys did not leave the house when her Toyota was stolen from her home in April.

She later found her GTS smashed up in the suburbs and has not been able to drive it since.

“It was parked outside my house in Wheelers Hill and they broke the window, let themselves in and then started the car and drove off,” she told the Herald Sun.

“They did it all in less than five minutes at 11pm.”

There are hopes vehicle manufacturers will move towards installing cheap, readily available security measures which neutralise the OBD units.

Police have been urging those manufacturers to upgrade their own security systems to prevent such technology from being used on the vehicles.

“We need to work with community (and) manufacturers to make it harder for people to steal cars,” Acting Deputy Regional Operations Commissioner David Clayton said.

“We’ve got regular engagement with manufacturers around crime prevention measures … it won’t turn around overnight.”